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Plant Photos
Anderson Plants west of Columbus Ave.
Includes Plants 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 15, 16, Midwest (24) and 38

Plant One Complex -  Anderson, IN

This is where it all started for what became the Delco-Remy Plant One complex.  The 1906 purchase of land reads that Lot 56 is south of the RR tracks.  This is incorrect.  It was north of the tracks between Columbus Ave. and McKinley Street.  See below.  Photo courtesy of Brian Mulcahy.

This is from the 1901 Madison County Atlas, showing Plot 56 on the north side of the rail road tracks. Photo courtesy of Brian Mulcahy.

This 1908 postcard shows the Anderson Orphan's home located where Plants Two and Four would be constructed 18 years later.  Behind the trees on the right one can see in white/gray Remy Electric Building No. 4 which was built in 1906.  The photo would have originally taken in black and white, with an artist then adding the color to the entire photo.  He/she decided to make the Remy buildings a light color.  Photo courtesy of Brian Mulcahy.

The postcard photo was taken from Columbus Ave towards the west.  The Remy Electric Building No. 4 and No. 7 were the first built at this location in 1906.  This Postcard gives us the earliest photo record of The Remy Electric Company as to our knowledge there were only artists' renditions of the previous locations.  Building No. 4 shown would later be part of the Plant One Cafeteria.  So if you ever ate in the Plant One Cafeteria you were eating in the oldest building at Columbus Avenue.  Postcard photo courtesy of Brian Mulcahy.

It is between noon and 2PM, looking north on Columbus Ave on May 29, 1909, as the Wolverine Motor Club from Michigan stops for lunch in the tent, which is on the grass area in front of the administration building, and to visit the Remy plants.  The group, which included Henry and Edsel Ford, then traveled down to Indianapolis to watch the Indy 500 the next day.  Members of the Remy Band can be seen with their instruments in the foreground.

Here is another photo of the Orphan's home from April of 1917 looking west from Columbus Ave.  Off to the right (north) one can see a Remy Electric factory building behind the trees.  Photo courtesy of Ted Vinson.

Columbus Ave Complex in 1915 looking east from the George Street area.  Where the workers are sitting will in 1919 become the east-west five story section of Plant One.  The one story buildings on either side of the workers would be filled in with other structures and still be there when the building was torn down.  Refer to the photo on the home page.  Photo courtesy of Ted Vinson  / Madison County Historical Society.

The Remy Electric Company in 1916.  This view is looking west from the middle of Columbus Ave.  It can not be seen in the photo but the name "Remy Electric Company" in over the "front porch" on the center structure, which is the Administrative Building. The one to the right is the Engineering Center and later becomes the Plant One school rooms.  One can note the open areas that later became the first floor only halls on either side of the center building.  The building on the left would be Building No. 2 and in later years would house the Plant One Safety Department and some of the Cafeteria.  In 1916 Building No. 2 was used for shipping.  Later a Building No. 84 would be added closer to Columbus that in later years would contain the Multigraph Department.  After the five story east-west addition was completed in 1919 the tree located out by the sidewalk would be near the location of the south entrance to the building in later years.  The center Administrative Building was torn down to make way for the new five story structure.  Photo courtesy of Ted Vinson  / Madison County Historical Society.

Buildings No. 24, 22, 20, and 18 can be seen in this 1916 photo, which is looking south-east and taken from George Street.  George Street ran all the way to the RR Tracks until Plant 16 was built in 1960.  Buildings No. 22 and 60 ran punch presses while 18 was the Salvage area.  Photo courtesy of Brian Mulcahy.

Building 22 in 1919 which was Parts Repair and Armature Grinding.  Photo courtesy of Ted Vinson.

This undated photo is probably from around 1919 also and looks to be a stator winding area.  Photo courtesy of Ted Vinson.

Artist's rendering of the Columbus Ave. Complex circa 1916 which covered eight acres and consisted of 21 buildings, comprising 450,650 square feet of manufacturing area.  Plants and headquarters building down the center of the complex would be torn down for the construction of Plant 1 in 1919.  Drawing courtesy of Gene Phillips.

Here is the same photo on a postcard that was postmarked 5-29-1913.  The postage was only a penny.  Photo courtesy of Brian Mulcahy.

A Flag raising during WWI circa 1917 or 1918.  In this photo one is looking south-west from Columbus Ave., probably from the corner of the Administration Building.  Building No. 2 was the shipping location for Remy at this time.  The wooden tower may very well be the beginnings of the stairwell on the south east corner of Building 45 (Plant 1).  In the next photo a similar tower can be seen.  Photo Courtesy of the Anderson Public Library.

It would have been a long and hard drive to Baltimore with the hard rubber tires on the Army Trucks.

Looking south down Columbus Ave on August 27, 1918.  Note the trees where Plants 2 and 4 would be built at.  Also note the security station in air to be able to look down the fence line.

This photo was taken 11-29-1918 during the construction of Building 45, or what would be the front east end of Plant One east of the middle stairway.  The four story Building 30 was completed in 1917 and is the background.  Building 5 on the right housed Schoolrooms 1-4 in later years.   Photo courtesy of Bob Scharnowkke.


The continuing construction of Plant 1 on March 3, 1919.  The photo is looking south to southwest.  The two story building in the foreground is the Remy Electric Company Engineering building.  Later the second floor would be known to many of us at the Plant One school rooms 1-4.  The photo would have been taken in the early morning based on the shadows.  Also note the wooden tower similar to the one in the previous photo. Photo courtesy of Ted Vinson / Madison County Historical Society.

Another photo of the 1918-1919 construction of Building 45.  Note the unknown building in the lower left hand corner which is not shown in the previous photo and would be very close if not on Columbus Ave itself.  Photo Courtesy of the Anderson Public Library.

This photo shows workmen on the roof of the Plant 1 garage.

This photo was taken between 1919 and 1924 as Building 45 (Plant 1) is up but Building 64 (Multigraph) has not yet  been constructed.  Note the driveway and the awnings on the east end of Plant 1.  The east end must have be the offices a there are now awnings to the west of the stairwell.  Also on the far right the front entrance can be seen.  Photo Courtesy of the Anderson Public Library.

An undated photo of either Building 30 or 45 (Plant 1).  Photo Courtesy of the Anderson Public Library.

This is from 1923 and shows the Orphanage where in 1928 of years Plants Two and Four will occupy.  Somewhere in those years the Orphan's home property was purchased by Remy and the Orphanage razed.  Photo courtesy of Brian Mulcahy.

From "A Trip Through Delco-Remy Plants" dated May 15, 1927.

This photo from 1928 shows Plant 1, 2, 4, 5 (Box Plant) and 6 with construction beginning on Plant 8.  The buildings that flank Plant 1 on the north and south began their construction under the Remy Brothers in 1906.  Anderson Herald Photo via Brian Mulcahy.

The north entrance in 1940.  Note on the street parking and the open windows.  Photo Courtesy of the Anderson Public Library.

Plant One on May 4, 1943 as Delco-Remy receives its E Flag for outstanding production in WWII.  From the May 7th, 1943 Delco-Remy Clan.

This photo of the Plant One complex is before the building of Plants 15 and Plant 16 in 1959.  Note that to build Plant 16 and the adjacent parking lot DR had to purchase quite a few private residences.  In the photo below one can see that not everyone sold there home, sort of like some of the last holdouts on Scatterfield Road as it was taken over by strip malls and big box stores.  Plant 15 was built on a baseball field.  At the corner of Noble and 29th Streets the building where the 3 Pigs Restaurant and Lounge was located can be seen.   Also note that when this photo was taken there was a factory or powerhouse to the west of Plant 5.

This photo and the one above appear to have been taken a few seconds apart from the same aircraft.  Photo courtesy of Brian Mulcahy.  

A nice color photo looking east and was taken before Plants 17, 18, 19 and 20 were built.  It is also taken before the front end of Plant 10 on the north side was added as there is still the original grass in front of the plant which was added in 1964-65.  It looks like the construction has started on Plant 18 which opened in 1962 .  Also note the patchwork of houses and parking lots along Noble Street after the purchase of property by DR for the building of Plant 16.  Photo courtesy of Cathy Tejchma.
 

Plant 15 in built but the second half of Plant 16 has not yet been added dating this photo to between 1960 and 1965 when the north addition to Plant 16 was added.  Photo courtesy of Ted Vinson / Madison County Historical Society.

This photo of the Plant One complex looking west has the Guide-Lamp facility in the background.  Photo courtesy of Ted Vinson / Madison County Historical Society.

Note the difference in the color of the brick on the east side of Plant 1 (You are looking west.)  This shows where the last addition to the plant was made parallel to Columbus Ave.  Photo courtesy of Ted Vinson / Madison County Historical Society.

This air brushed photo highlights the Anderson Complex looking east.  This would be after 1973 as Plant 20 has been built but before 1985 when 2, 4, 6 and 8 came down.  Gene Phillips Photo.

Plant One and 16 after Plants 2,4,6 and 8 were torn down.  This shot give a good view of the buildings started by the Remy Brothers when they purchased 6 acres at this location.  Photo courtesy of Ted Vinson / Madison County Historical Society.

The finished structure.  Plant One in its later years.  Photo courtesy of Ted Vinson / Madison County Historical Society.

I walked through this door for the first time on March 16, 1973 on my way to becoming a Delco-Remy employee.  While the door frame, doors and glass shown here were not original, the surrounding brick and stone with the name Delco-Remy were original and  built as part of Building 95 in 1928.  From Delco-Remy publicaton.

For those of us that worked at DR in Plant One, this shows when the different buildings at Plant 1 were built and be compared to the drawing below that shows what was in these first floor buildings in shown below in 1974 and 1995.  Note that the buildings that the Plant One Cafeteria was in were built in 1906 and 1915.  Building 4, along with Building 7, were the first on the site.  Building 4 was also the one that was featured in the Orphanage photo above.  From 1995 Land and Buildings Manual.

This is Plant One in 1974. Note that most of the tool rooms have been replaced in 1995 below by product labs that were associated with the Passenger Car Starting Motors and Delcotron SBUs that were located in Plant One after 1987.  From 1974 Land and Buildings Manual.

From 1974 Land and Buildings Manual.

This is Plant One in 1995.  Note that Heated Windshield is still around as its lab is in Building 27.  From 1995 Land and Buildings Manual.

Columbus Avenue Complex on Google Maps

Plant Two

The Plant One photo from this same brochure has distributors in that plant, so it appears the product line manufacture transferred to Plant 2 upon construction.  Distributor production would later move to Plant 10 and also Plant 20.  From "A Trip Through Delco-Remy Plants" dated May 15, 1927. 

Plant Two after completion in 1928.  Plant Four and One can be see in the background.  This is an early morning photo from Columbus Ave.  Anderson Herald Photo via Brian Mulcahy.

 From 1974 Land and Buildings Manual.

Plant Four

From "A Trip Through Delco-Remy Plants" dated May 15, 1927. 

From 1974 Land and Buildings Manual.

The Second Plant Five  - The Foundry

See our video page for an inside look to the operation of Plant Five, the Foundry.  Also in this photo is Department 137 Salvage.  It is the author's premise that the either of the two builds pictured in the salvage area were originally build in 1933 as the replacement box plant.  Photo courtesy of Ted Vinson.

Note Ted Vinson's white Corvette in the parking spot nearest the Foundry along the sidewalk.  Photo courtesy of Ted Vinson.

Photo courtesy of Ted Vinson.

Photo courtesy of Ted Vinson.

From 1974 Land and Buildings Manual.

Plant Six

Plant 6 opening on May 28 of 1926 with a circus inside the building.  Photo courtesy of Madison County Historical Society.

The Sell Flota Circus provided the entertainment.  Photo courtesy of Ted Vinson / Madison County Historical Society.

From "A Trip Through Delco-Remy Plants" dated May 15, 1927. 

From 1974 Land and Buildings Manual.

Go to:  Regulators to learn more about the Plant 6 Product line in 1964.

Plant Eight

Armature assembly during WWII.

From 1974 Land and Buildings Manual.

Plant 15

Plant 15 under construction circa 1959-1960.  Note the gas company tanks and powerhouse.  They will not be in the next photo.  This also gives a good view of the Foundry, Plant 5.

This undated photo give a good aerial view of not only Plant 15, but Plant 5 and the west side of the Plant 1 Complex.  Note that the Gas Company tanks and power house are no longer standing.

Photo courtesy of Ted Vinson / Madison County Historical Society.

From the January 29, 1960 Clan.

From 1974 Land and Buildings Manual.

Plant 16

From 1995 Land and Buildings Manual.

Plant 16 in November 1960.  From the Clan November 1960.

From 1974 Land and Buildings Manual.

Midwest (Plant 24)
This may not actually have been Plant 24.  It contained several 2400 Departments as seen below and many of us used to call it Plant 24.

WWII photo after the plant was purchased.  From "Our War Job".

Packing out product during WWII in Midwest.  From "Our War Job".

From 1974 Land and Buildings Manual.

From 1974 Land and Buildings Manual.

From 1974 Land and Buildings Manual.

Plant 38 (The Pepsi Plant)

From 1995 Land and Buildings Manual.

From 1995 Land and Buildings Manual.

Plant One Complex Photos   Little Known Plant Photos  The Acre Plant Photos  Battery Plant Photos   Remote SLI Plant Photos   New Brunswick, NJ Demolition Photos